Edward: Before Bella Remix
by leiahlaloa
Summary: Scenes inspired by my two shot Edward: Before Bella. Flashbacks courtesy of Edward.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own the Twilight series, nor do I own any of the characters within. I'm just borrowing them for the moment. **

"I am not touching that, Edward," Rosalie grimaced at me and folded her arms. She was still getting used to my mind reading abilities and preferred to say things, instead of think them at me. Her thoughts were just as disgusted as her tone.

"Come on, Rosalie," I protested, "This will be fun." 

"It's a rusted piece of metal." Rosalie rolled her eyes, "How much fun could it be?" 

"It's a Model T Ford!" I exclaimed, trying to get her interested, "This will keep us busy for weeks! We can pull it out and take it back to the house. Fix it up." 

I knew it was a long shot, but Carlisle had asked me if I would try to keep Rosalie occupied. He had come back from night shift at the local hospital and found her sitting at her mirror, just staring, more than once. Carlisle and Esme also thought that even if I wouldn't accept Rosalie as a mate that I should at least try to befriend her. 

When I found the old car that seemed to have crashed on our property, right off the road, it seemed like an ideal project. I had been given glances into Rosalie's real character through my thought reading. Her mind was well equipped to understand mechanics of things, whether it be Rochester society or the engine of an old car. I knew that she could do it. I just had to figure out how to get her interested. 

"What if I picked it up and took it to the house and cleaned it off?" I asked. She may have looked bored on the outside, but she was considering it.

_It probably would look nice once we fixed it up. It reminds me of someone's old car back in Rochester. _

"Stop reading my thoughts!" she exclaimed at once, realizing why I was silently watching her, "I guess if you got it to the house and cleaned it off I would help you. There's nothing better to do around here." 

She tried to be flippant about it, but after I made a day trip to the city library to pick up a few books about Model T's, she was completely ensconced in fixing the car up. She read the books cover to cover and then began instructing me on what parts and tools we were going to need to fix it up. 

Soon rebuilding the car was completely underway.

"No," she frowned at me from overhead, "It is not possible to put the carburetor in that way."

I was situated under the engine of the car. We had pounded out all the dents and made the frame completely sound. The engine was giving us trouble. With the war raging in Europe we were having trouble finding parts. We had taken to building our own.

It seemed that even with the pictures, measurements, and sharp vision we still had a ways to go before we would become car part manufacturers.

"Well, should I try to twist it the other way?" I asked, trying to be patient. 

"I—" she bent her head, looking at the picture in the book. I saw it through her mind and did twist the carburetor to fit where it was supposed to be, "No! It should be the—" she looked down into the engine and saw I had already twisted it. 

_Why does he have to read my mind?_ She scowled

I was not sure whether she wanted me to hear that thought or not. 

"Would you like to do this?" I asked, from my spot on the ground, feeling a bit testy, "Because I could just work on the suspension and go into town to try to find wheels. You could rebuild the engine." 

"That is not a woman's place." She replied automatically. 

Rosalie had been saying this the entire time we had been working on the car. Whenever I offered to let her help, she always declined, using her upbringing as a means to politely pass off the work to me. I was beginning to wonder if she was guarding her thoughts enough so I would not know she really wanted to get hands on experience, though. 

"Rosalie," I sighed, sliding out from under the car and standing up in one smooth motion, "We need to talk." 

"About what?" she asked, her face a mask. I could tell, even if she was blocking my mind reading by citing Ms. Pettigrew's rules of engagement in her head, she knew what I was talking about. She diverted her eyes and ran her hands along the spine of the book she was holding. 

"It would be one thing if you were truly against getting your hands dirty, Rose," I pulled the book away from her, so she would look at me, "But it is like you are reciting something straight out of Ms. Pettigrew's etiquette book." 

"Stop reading my mind!" Rosalie shouted, "It's not like I can just change because I want to. This is how I grew up. Girls were supposed to be prim and pretty and the men were supposed to get their hands dirty." 

"That's the beauty of it," I laughed mirthlessly, "You can be whoever you want to be. Esme, Carlisle and I are not going to judge you if you want to shimmy under an old car and get your hands dirty building an engine. We only want you to be happy."

"_You_ want _me_ to be happy?" Rosalie gave me an incredulous glance, "All you have ever done was hole up into your room, playing your precious piano. You never cared about my happiness. I am still not sure you care about Esme and Carlisle's happiness, the way you brood sometimes."

This was not the time for my temper to flare, but she was testing my boundaries. I had been enjoying our time together—not that she would ever be anything more than a sister. This was ruining our fun though.

"Rosalie, whether you realize it or not, there are several thousand women who are getting their hands dirty, just a few miles from here. They are a new revolution of women who are working at a factory in their husbands' place. They are calling themselves Rosie the Riveters. I believe they are helping manufacture airplanes for the war." I informed her, leaning against the car's frame, "It is not taboo to get your hands dirty whether you are here or out in society anymore." 

"Really?" she asked, glancing at the direction the city was in. We could not see any of it for the tree lines, but we knew it was there. I could just hear the hum of the city with my sensitive hearing.

"Yes," I nodded, "As much as I do not like to admit it, times are changing. Women are being liberated more and more every year." 

That was the wrong thing to say. Rosalie's thoughts turned indignant. 

"You think that liberating women is a bad idea?" she narrowed her eyes at me. 

"No. That's not what I meant," I sighed, "I meant that the ways that you seem to want to hold onto—the ways that I also prefer—are fading away and making way for a new type of society. It's inevitable."

Rosalie was silent. Her thoughts were unguarded, but they were just a soft buzzing, trying to sort out what I had said.

"We don't have to like it, but we can use it to our advantage?" Rosalie half smiled. 

"Exactly," I nodded, "So if you want to work on the car, work on the car!" 

"You are not very good at it, anyways," she snickered. I knew it was coming. She had been thinking it for awhile. 

"If you feel that way, show me what you can do." I motioned down at the ground under the car. 

From that day on, Rosalie seemed to spend less time staring into the mirror. She would always have a preoccupation with her looks. That was a part of her. But working on that first car had given her a freedom that she'd never known before. The freedom to be her own person. I wonder how I missed it—how long she had been locked inside the idea that she was an inferior creature. Maybe her tenacity had kept it at bay—the insistence that she was just a girl had been ingrained in her as a child and carried over fourfold when she was changed. 

No matter what, I felt a measure of gratification at helping her. 

**A/N- The only reason that I call this Edward: Before Bella Remix is because I was inspired by my own writing in the Edward: BB two-shot that I wrote a few days ago. **

**There will be four in this series I think. They are all pulled out of vague descriptions that were in Edward: BB. And they aren't necessarily in chronological order. So look forward to an actual glance at scenes from Edward's life before Bella, instead of just descriptions. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Ok, so I need to clarify something. I REALLY don't pay attention to any kind of timeline that Steph might have given us or the Lex has posted or whatever. I'm doing a lot of these scenes from my own ideas of Cullen time. When I wrote the scene with Edward and Rosalie, I assumed since Rosalie's dialogue with Bella hinted that she had been changed during the Great Depression that there would have been five or ten years before Emmett came along. Thus, talk of World War II. For you scholars (both history and twilight) that realized my flub up, I applaud you, but I don't think I'm going to change it. Just chalk it up to this whole series of scenes being slightly AU.**

**Again, I don't own Twilight. I just like to borrow and play with its characters once in a while. **

I _had_ to get out of the house. If only there was a way to permanently block my family's thoughts. But there wasn't, so I escaped to the outdoors while they were being… romantic. 

Carlisle and Esme had been bad enough and when there had just been the three of us, they were very solicitous of my mind reading abilities. When Rosalie had come along, they thought she might be sufficient distraction for me. Add Emmett into the mix and I was once again the odd man out, susceptible to a whole torrent of passionate thoughts raging in my family's minds.

Escape was putting it mildly. I usually ran several miles from their thoughts. It gave me a chance to think of things other than my odd man out status. 

It was a sunny day, which is why we were all away from the public in the first place. I had situated myself on a rock in the middle of nowhere, hoping to gain some peace. Rosalie, Emmett and I were about to enter college. It was time. Secondary education didn't have much for us anymore. 

As I was enjoying the sun, I felt someone's mind from far off. It was only just a few bits and pieces. It wasn't anyone's mind that I was familiar with. I wanted to be careful, though, so I went under the cover of the trees, away from the sunlight. 

It felt like they deliberately came closer to me in a staggeringly short amout of time and some extra sense of mine told me they weren't human.

Then I was slammed with pictures of our house. Visions of Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie and me were strong details in this being's mind, whoever it was. My mind chucked away all thoughts of college, focusing my attention upon whoever was coming. 

I had been taught early on to be courteous to all covens that I encountered. Sometimes they had advantages that would make good alliances. Sometimes, they didn't, though. The closer they came—there were two of them—the more I picked up from the mind of whoever it was. The detail I saw from our house and the relationships between Carlisle and Esme, Rosalie and Emmett was enough to unnerve me. It was perplexing because we had never had visitors while we were in this area. No one had even seen the house since Esme finished it.

During the minute that I had been waiting for them to show themselves, I hadn't prepared myself at all for what would happen. With my sensitive vision I saw a streak of black and white come into the clearing, stop for a millisecond to say "Edward!" and then _pounced on me._

My reaction could have been faster, but it brought the required result. I slammed the dark haired girl into the closest tree trunk and there was a sound of snapping branches. 

In the same half a second, a blonde man had positioned himself in a crouch between me and the dark haired girl. He was snarling at me and I was snarling back. 

"Edward, that's not very nice." The girl's voice held a soft murmur of laughing as she dusted herself off. My surprise couldn't have been more evident on my face. I saw it mirrored in their minds. 

"How do you know me?" I was surprised enough that I came out of my own protective stance. 

"Shouldn't you have figured that out by now?" The girl giggled, placing a soothing hand on the blonde's shoulder. Instantly, her mind poured out all of the previous scenes and strings of information that I had first taken from her mind. 

"I don't understand. How do you know all that?" I asked, "I've never even seen you before." 

At this point, the blonde man was smiling as well. It was like there was some big secret that I didn't understand. There was something odd about the girl's thoughts though. They seemed a bit dim around the edges. 

"You are our future." The girl said with a smirk, "But look at this. We haven't even introduced ourselves properly. I'm Alice and this is Jasper Hale. And, of course, you're Edward Cullen. Ok! Introductions over. Let's go, boys. I want to meet everyone else."

"WAIT!" I stopped Alice before she could dart back into the forest towards the house. 

"Edward," Alice's smile seemed to triple, "I can see the future. We've been traveling all over the place trying to find you and your family. You are our destiny. Our home."

"And we're just supposed to accept what you tell us?" I asked. 

"See for yourself." The scene in her mind was one where Carlisle and Esme came out of the house to speak with Jasper, Alice and me. It seems that I was being their advocate and before too long, Esme embraced both Jasper and Alice. Then the scenes changed and the entire group—including Jasper and Alice—was playing baseball in an open field. Baseball was a favorite pastime for the Cullen clan.

I stood there for a few minutes, watching the scenes that Alice allowed me to see. And with every new one, I was a little more convinced. 

"See?" Alice danced around Jasper and me, "Do you believe me now?" 

"Why are you here? You know that we have different feeding habits than most." I frowned. 

"That's part of the reason," Jasper finally spoke up, "Alice and I both have developed a consciousness of human life. We don't wish to feed on them, but we weren't sure what alternatives there were. Alice's glimpses of the future have told us that your family can help. I really haven't believed there was such a coven until I saw you. You look just how she sketched you earlier today. She told me we would meet you first." 

I was picking up something strange from Jasper. Almost as if— the sincerity in his voice was oozing out of him and dealing with my doubt. 

"Jasper has a power too," Alice chimed in, seeing the question I was about to ask. I saw it, too—the scene in which I asked the question came directly from her mind. 

"I'm not exactly sure where it came from," Jasper shrugged, "I only know that I have an impact upon the emotions of those around me." 

I considered them for a moment. Alice wasn't lying. If she could see me ask my question before I asked it, there was no doubt that she had in fact seen my family. Besides that, Carlisle would want to meet them.

"So come on, already," Alice was behind us, pushing forward with amazing strength, "I want to meet everyone!" 

And the scene was exactly how Alice had shown me. As soon as we were in hearing range, I called out to the household, warning them of visitors. Carlisle and Esme were at the door in a flash.

Alice and Jasper introduced themselves and told the story of their journey. Carlisle looked to me for verification.

_Is this true?_ Carlisle asked. I only nodded. Alice and Jasper's minds confirmed it. 

It seemed I would have to deal with yet another couple's romantic thoughts. Ugh. 

**A/N- This is yet another example of the fact that some of these scenes are going to be AU. According to gypsyrover, Edward wasn't around when Jasper and Alice first joined the Cullen coven. I can't remember why or whatever, but I mentioned in Edward:BB about Edward meeting Jasper and Alice first (which apparently didn't happen)… and this is a scene needed to get out of my head. **


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- This occurred to me while I was writing the last scene

**A/N- This occurred to me while I was writing the last scene. I think its an interesting side piece. **

**Again… me= not the owner of Twilight. **

I sat on the stump where Carlisle had asked to meet me. I had a pretty good idea what he wanted to talk about. Jasper and Alice's presence in the house had caused quite a stir. We were still getting to know them, but I knew enough about them already to know that they would be great additions to the Cullen family.

"That house has never been so noisy," Carlisle's voice was appreciative as he came into my view from the direction of the house, "Although, it seems we'll have our work cut out for us with Jasper."

"Yes," I nodded slowly, "His mind has told me as much. Around all of us it isn't difficult at all for him to abstain, but I imagine we'll have to treat him just like a newborn at first. He's been around the old feeding habits far too long. He may have trouble even fifty years from now."

"We'll worry about that when the time comes," Carlisle spoke, but I could tell from his thoughts that our conversation was going a different way. "What needs to be addressed right now is the fact that our coven is about to become seven large—"

"And that I'm still the odd man out." I finished for him.

"I wasn't going to say that." Carlisle sighed as he leaned against the trunk of a tree.

"But you were thinking it." I said indignantly.

"Yes, I was." Carlisle nodded solemnly. He was trying to sort out how to talk to me.

"There's nothing to talk about." I muttered.

"Would you mind trying to stay out of my head? I want this to be a two sided conversation for once. Not one where you answer any thought going through my head." Carlisle frowned. 

"Alright," I sounded impatient, even to my own ears, but I concentrated until Carlisle's thoughts were just a buzz. It was more difficult with him because I'd known his mind the longest.

"Edward, there are few times that you and I ever need to talk privately, but Esme and I—we know that it was difficult for you to have Rosalie become preoccupied with Emmett, even if you and she were just friends. Jasper and Alice seem to be a different couple than the rest of us, but still, they are a couple.

"We have wished a mate for you for some time, but Esme is beginning to think it's impossible. Your age and the society you were born in built this restlessness in you. Young men of your time didn't get married until they were well into their twenties, and established in some career. Because of your looks and age, you might never have a career. I am sorry for that Edward, if you are desirous of having some focus. If you are, we can probably try to arrange something…

"You're getting off topic." I reminded him.

"I am." His lips curved in discontent, "What I want to talk to you about is the fact that if we accept Jasper and Alice as part of the coven, that has to be it. We're large as it is. I'm surprised we haven't been visited by the Volturi. They realize that covens like ours can build up more than those who choose to feed on humans, but any coven larger than three or four could be starting a revolution or so they'll think. Especially with powers like yours and Alice's. We want to remain as compliant as we can with them."

"So what you've been thinking these past days—that if Jasper and Alice join us we shouldn't add any more?" I wasn't sure if I was angry at the idea that the Volturi would tell us what to do, or gloomy at the prospect of being alone. Both seemed to be human emotions that didn't sit well with me. At all. 

"If we add Jasper and Alice." Carlisle nodded resignedly, "It's been almost forty years, though, Edward. Have you ever felt slighted by not having a mate?"

"No," I answered, truthfully, "But we've always had plenty of distraction. We added Esme, Rosalie and Emmett at intervals that kept us busy. Granted, Alice and Jasper will be a job in itself, but after we all settle down, will I be truly happy?"

He paused, shifting so he could look out into the forest around us. I could tell, even without reading his mind, that he wished Alice were there so that she might tell him what my future looked like.

"That's only something time will tell," Carlisle he finally sighed, "But I feel like I've become your father, and as your father I just want you to be happy. If you were to meet someone and you wanted to begin your own family, I would not stop you."

"My own coven," I murmured. I couldn't imagine living away from Carlisle and Esme, or any of the rest, "No, I don't think there's a chance I would ever meet someone. Someone who could pull me away from my own family."

And that seemed to be the end of the conversation. Carlisle didn't want me to feel imprisoned by the bonds of our family, but he also wanted me to know he would always want me in the coven.

"I'm very excited about you, Rosalie and Emmett going to college." He smiled, placing a paternal hand on my shoulder, "Higher education will suit all of you, I think. Especially you. Maybe there will be a challenge for you there, as senior high doesn't seem to keep you occupied."

"That's only because I can read the teachers' minds. I know the lessons before they even teach them." I laughed, and a tension fell away. I didn't realize it had stretched around us so fully.

"It doesn't help that you've consumed every book within arm's reach."

"What else am I supposed to do with endless days and nights?" I replied, with mock indignation, "I believe Esme would have me playing the piano all the time, if I consented to."

"That's an interesting thought," Carlisle murmured, "Would you want to continue with your musical studies?"

"I'm not sure. I'd have to slow my playing down quite a bit." I rolled my eyes and stated sardonically, "I really don't know that I want to develop that kind of control. It might damper my own creativity."

"Surely, you jest." Carlisle laughed as I stood. We both moved at human's pace towards the forest edge again.

We spent the rest of the walk home considering educational paths for me.

**A/N- Little does Edward know… **

**I've seriously disseminated from my original "four scenes." This one and the one before seemed to insist on being written. They had to be released. This one especially. We don't get to see interaction between Carlisle and Edward much and I was interested in how it would go. **


End file.
